Olympics still greatest show on Earth
My thoughts . . .
Olympic fever. You got it yet or what?
Your columnist is getting very old and cynical but sacre bleu if he is not right back into it and very much NOT bored with the rings.
Some of my thoughts and questions so far:
▪ The Black Ferns Sevens! How good! They really are a remarkable team. Had to show a bit of ticker in the final, too.
▪ If you were to assemble the absolutely perfect women’s sevens player in a laboratory, would you start with Michaela Blyde’s pace and acceleration, peak Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s power and explosiveness, and Sarah Hirini’s heart and warrior spirit?
▪ But what happened to the men’s sevens team? They really lacked ideas. Back to the drawing board, and surely we should be considering incentives for the best 15s players to switch to sevens in Olympic years.
▪ Speaking of switching, French rugby god Antoine Dupont helped Les Bleus to Olympic gold. He is the best player in the world right now but talk of him being the men’s rugby GOAT is premature. The wonderful halfback has never won a test in the southern hemisphere.
▪ There are memories of the 2004 Olympic triathlon (Carter/ Docherty a Kiwi 12) but Wednesday night might have been the first time I have watched a triathlon from start to finish. Gripping stuff. Hayden Wilde was gone then certain to win gold then run down by his great mate, Alex Yee.
▪ One complaint, though. Why is more not done to help us, the viewer, understand what is going on during a triathlon? The swimming is basically a shambles as you do not know where most of them are placed. There is no ticker on the run to show the speed they are going, either. We have to wait ages between split times. Both the commentators and the TV crew got caught on the hop when Yee ploughed past Wilde.
▪ Unsurprisingly, the best opening paragraph to an Olympic story has come from the world’s greatest sportswriter, Barney Ronay. Referring to the filthy Seine, he opened his yarn on the triathlon with: ‘‘Citius, altius, antibioticus.’’
. . . on the Olympics
▪ Simone Biles! The greatest gymnast of all time is back and has lost none of her star power.
▪ In saying that, my favourite person at the gymnastics is Stephen Nedoroscik. The geeky American gymnast is an amazing story. He sits quietly on the sidelines in his thick spectacles. Then, like Clark Kent turning into Superman, he competes in the pommel horse event to help his team win their first medal in 16 years. His favourite hobby is solving Rubik’s cubes. Revenge of the nerd!
▪ Beloved Dunedin swimmer Erika Fairweather did well to reach two finals. But it’s OK to acknowledge some disappointment she could not get on the 400m freestyle podium. She is the world champion, after all. And her own reaction afterwards emphasised how she was feeling about missing out after not quite producing her best.
▪ Nothing can beat those CHEATING Canadians for drama. But a couple of other minor scandals emerged. Television commentator Bob Ballard was quickly sacked after referring to Australia's female swimmers being like ‘‘women doing their makeup’’. And English sevens player Amy Wilson Hardy was investigated for allegedly sending a racist message on social media.
▪ In 124 years, India has won just 10 Olympic gold medals. Eight were for hockey. In the past 10 Olympics, India has won just two golds — one in shooting, one in athletics. I get the Olympics are massively about money but, sheesh, that is mindblowing.
▪ The quote of the Olympics came from Italy flagbearer Gianmarco Tamberi. You might remember him from the gold medalsharing high jump at Tokyo. He lost his wedding ring in the Seine during the opening ceremony, and sent a message to his wife: “I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry. I felt it slip away. I saw it fly. I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat. A tinkle of hope. But unfortunately the bounce was in the wrong direction. It will remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love. If I had to invent an excuse, I would never have been so imaginative. May it be a good omen to return home with an even bigger gold’’.
▪ That surfing photo (ODT, 31.7.24) was extraordinary. The sports shot of the year. Agence FrancePresse photographer Jerome Brouillet snapped the image from a nearby boat.
▪ Apparently the Seine is pronounced SEN and not SAYNE. Who knew?
Out of control
Read this sentence.
‘‘Two more players from overseas have been named in the Hawke’s Bay Magpies squad for the NPC.’’
Two MORE players from overseas?
Yep, the Magpies have moved on from desecrating the Ranfurly Shield to joining this bizarre arms race in a domestic rugby competition that should be entirely about developing homegrown talent but is turning into a nursery for other nations. Hawke’s Bay have signed two Australians, a Welshman and a Namibian who has been playing in the United States.
Tasman have recruited the former England under20 captain. Southland boast an Englishman, two Australians and three players from Major League Rugby. Manawatū have two Australians, a Japanese international and yet another MLR player. Northland and North Harbour each have an Australian — and Auckland have two. And Wellington just joined the madness by signing not one but two Japanese props. To quote Vince Lombardi: What the HELL is going on out here?
It feels like the unions, at war with New Zealand Rugby and sensing the future of the NPC is extremely grim, have decided to go for broke and to heck with the consequences.
It’s crazy, and it’s pointless.
The NPC is a development competition now — and it should be developing only New Zealanders.
If they’re good enough
Missed this a couple of weeks ago.
Cavan Sullivan has become the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer game. He was 14 — yes, 14 — when he made his debut for the Philadelphia Union.
Modern sport
New Zealand athletes do not know how lucky they have it. There was another reminder of how brutal a business American sport can be when baseballer Christopher Morel learned recently he had been traded to another team.
Morel was literally in the middle of a game for the Chicago Cubs when he was told he was off to the Tampa Bay Rays. As in, immediately. Television cameras showed him saying emotional farewells to teammates and walking off down the tunnel.